In the following, i have proposed a few questions that had came up as i was reading “Tartuffe”. Some of these may come in as deep, as the text itself is very interesting.
1. It is obvious that Orgon has an opposing perspective of Tartuffe, compared to the other characters. He praises Tartuffe while Damis, Mariana and Cleante talks of Tartuffe’s negative spread. Orgon would talk of Tartuffe’s so called good soul and his positive ends. In this society, we all know people that are similar to Orgon; they tend to perceive things from one strong perspective while thousands of other people sees it differently. For example, President Trump, is clearly a racist; he sees Muslims as bad people. It becomes problem when that person does something that affects everyone else. For instance, Orgon wants Mariane to marry Tartuffe and Trump cancelled DACA. Organ affected the love between Mariane and Velere and Trump affected many dreamers. Even worst, the person has a higher position than everyone else. The question that came to mind is how does one deal with this? Do we protest? What is a sound strategy to oppose those in a higher position?
2. A comment that i must make is that Orgon is blinded by his friendly love for Tartuffe. Despite his own blood, Damis, telling him that Tartuffe loves Elmire, he doesn’t not believe Damis. I recall a book that i was reading: “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.” It reminds me that we’re not always right. Sometimes, despite the things that we believe is right….it actually isn’t. The actions of Orgon is a true demonstration of the point made my the author. In Act III, it reminds me that if life is not lived “correctly”, we’re our own greatest downfall (just like how Orgon is his greatest downfall). In other ways, this is the thesis. As DJ Khaled says it, “Congradulations. you played yourself.”
3. In reference to the comment above, the question is how does one live a life where one is not oneself’s worst enemy? I personally believe that there is no answer to it. sometimes, its just trial and error and being open to what people say about you. Other people’s criticism of you may be your greatest opportunity for self improvement.
Regarding point 1., to point my opinion in a statement “Under the bases of logical thought is power, but under the bases of illogical thought, logic is powerless.” Disregarding the many other circumstances that may influence a person’s thought (ex: extreme circumstance when the worst happens to a person, and anchors that person into a niche), the main problem when dealing with people is ego and common sense. Ego can make someone twist their arm even if they truly find themselves in the wrong. Ego can delude people into finding facts in opinions, and (circumstantial) faults in the opposition’s views. Ego can do many other things as well. Common sense is something many people think they have, because (usually) the community they live in has their own standard of ‘common sense’. Ergo, my common sense may be more justifiable than B’s common sense, while C’s common sense may be even deeper/more rational than my common sense.
To grasp a person, and be able to sway them into your field of ‘justice’/understanding is in itself a complex task with many different methods. To be able to sway a people needs even greater understanding. And eventually, there’ll be a number of people before you which conglomerates into an entity within itself, and to you will lose that sense of personal humanity. A nation doesn’t have a face.
Long story short, I don’t how to deal with this problem. The ignorant are the hardest to persuade, and most of the times the only way to prove them wrong is when they do wrong/mess up. Though by then it’s too late.
Have you ever heard of the phrase “two faced”? Well if not Moliere provides us with a great example and his name is Tartuffe.
Tartuffe is a “holy” man who was once very poor until he met a man named Orgon. Orgon wishes to bring Tartuffe into his family and help him become a nobleman. What we see later on is that Orgon has misjudged Tartuffe.
Orgon’s family tries to tell Orgon and his mother, Madame Pernelle, that Tartuffe is no good. He claims to be a man of faith but he is not. Orgon’s son-in-law named Cleante brings up a great point in the story. He says that one can claim themselves to be a man of faith yet, their actions speak otherwise.
Cleante says that many men who deem to be truly holy men are fakes and that they use it as their trade for money. There are people who truly believe that in todays world, there are pastors with net worths off approximately 40mil and one who has even 150mil. This is not shown only in Tartuffe but also in The Life Of A Sensuous Woman.
So the question I ask you all is not a question of your faith, but can you really judge a book by its cover?
It is true that there are many holy men who use their statuses and reputation in order to profit and manipulate those who have faith.
In the play, I also feel that Tartuffe is one of those people. Although I’m not completely sure what is in the bible, the actions committed by Tartuffe does not seem holy; it is said that he indulges himself with wine and “he ate so much, he popped a button.” I believe that a holy man would not satisfy oneself with such luxury and materialistic goods. In addition to this, Tartuffe admits hes in love with Orgon’s wife, Elmire. Are these actions supposedly allowed for one who is deemed as “holy”?
Based on these evidence, I guess we could say yes, we can judge a book by its cover; it is clear that the actions of Tartuffe reveal he is a fraud.
Responding to Carlos, I believe that one can not really judge a book by its cover, or a person for who they appear to be. I feel that actions speak louder than words, and that is distinctly proven in Tartuffe. Although Tartuffe appeared to be a divine and noble man, and was speaking all about how he believes in God and morals, it was all say – there was no concrete actions to prove that. Furthermore, I believe that it takes time to get to know someone and their true self, but characters such as Orgon and Madame Pernelle instantly fell for Tartuffe, despite the opinions of the rest of the household. Tartuffe’s actions at the end of the play (lust for Elmire, kicking out Orgon and his family) further signify that people should not rely on hearsay, but rather experiences and actions of the people around them.
Reading Tartuffe reassures the well-known saying of never judging a book by it’s cover. Tartuffe pretended to be a religious person to seem as a great holy man. However, it was clearly not the case as he was trying to manipulate Orgon to take his estate, and take Orgon’s wife for himself. I personally never judge anybody before meeting somebody although many people today do. This is usually because of stereotypes and clichés from today’s society. For example, in school if there is a quiet person in the classroom, people may just assume that the person is shy. However, it may just be that they do not see a reason to start a conversation. The quiet person in the classroom may actually be the most down-to-earth person in the class. I used to “judge a person by their cover”, and assumed the type of person they are before meeting them, but I have known better than that for a long time, and have not done so for a long time.
It is true that there are many holy men who use their statuses and reputation in order to profit and manipulate those who have faith.
In the play, I also feel that Tartuffe is one of those people. Although I’m not completely sure what is in the bible, the actions committed by Tartuffe does not seem holy; it is said that he indulges himself with wine and “he ate so much, he popped a button.” I believe that a holy man would not satisfy oneself with such luxury and materialistic goods. In addition to this, Tartuffe admits hes in love with Orgon’s wife, Elmire. Are these actions supposedly allowed for one who is deemed as “holy”?
Based on these evidence, I guess we could say yes, we can judge a book by its cover; it is clear that the actions of Tartuffe reveal he is a fraud.
The theme I would like to focus on in this play is hypocrisy. Tartuffe is known in town as a pious man, when throughout the play we constantly see him doing things that would be frowned upon by the church. Many individuals throughout the play see past Tartuffe’s act such as Damis, Mariane, Dorine, and Elmire and try to expose him for who he truly is. We learn that Tartuffe is a greedy, lustful and a hypocrite. He was able to manipulate Madame Pernelle and Orgon, and through this he was able to convince Organ into signing the deed of his home over to him. This greed that possesses Tartuffe is spoken about in the bible, “Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions'” (Luke 12:15). Tartuffe acts as though he is a devoutly religious man, when he is going against the will of God. This kind of hypocrisy is also written about in the bible, “He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me'” (Mark 7:6). No amount of praying can get one into heaven if their hearts are not pure. Tartuffe is an adulterous and worldly man, and does exactly what he preaches against.
I agree that the main upfront idea of this play “hypocrisy” coming from Tartuffe. He does use Orgon to get what he wants and even what he doesn’t want, like a future wife. However, no one ever questions why Orgon is such admiration of Tartuffe. I think this is a sub-theme (if that exists) meaning that it is the deeper meaning that people are not looking for. What Moliere is trying to tell us is that, people are like sheep and are willing to give up (like orgon) their riches, and family and essentially their lives to the church even though we don’t know them very well (no one except Dorine). However, after reading this I believe that people realized that Orgon never questioned and trusted blindly which almost lead him to destruction. This idea of questioning peoples intentions was what started the Enlightenment a few years after this work of literature was published, and I believe this play helped with the spark.
Damis brings to light information about Tartuffe to Orgon, but Organ doesn’t believe it at all even though Tartuffe admitted to them. Instead of believing in his own son, he insults him for calling Tartuffe this terrible guy. Tartuffe constantly uses reverse psychology to get what he wants from Orgon. For someone who claims to be this “good Christian” he doesn’t want to forgive Damis.
Mariane doesn’t want to marry Tartuffe. She begs her father, Orgon to prevent this marriage from happening, but he is set on what he wants. She goes to the extreme and offers her inheritance to simply not marry him. Elmire defends Mariane and tells off Orgon for being gulible. She convinces Orgon that Tartuffe is this untrustworthy person that everyone has been telling him about.
By now, all the characters in the play are aware of Tartuffe’s intentions and how he is going after Orgon’s estate. Tartuffe ends up having black mail on one of Orgon’s friend and uses that information to get Orgon kicked out and arrested, but when Tartuffe comes with the police they end up arresting him instead.
The scene that stood out to me the most was when Orgon was explaining to his mother, Madame Pernelle, that Tartuffe is this fraud and he just wants his estate, but she doesn’t believe him. Funny how the tables have turned. It took so much convincing for Orgon to believe it and now his own mother doesn’t believe him till Monsieur Loyal comes over to give Orgon a conviction notice.
Although to us readers, with dramatic irony, we know that Tartuffe is a rat faced bastard, objectively speaking, I found one of Orgon’s argument had some truth in it – though it is twisted in ignorance. “Ah! So you will be a holy, cloistered nun, / Because your father thwarts your love affair.” (s. 4.3. Lines 29-30). In a broad sense, this plays to the idea of turning to God when all else fails, and only because all else fails/whenever one prays because they’re desperate. Though the rest of his arguments are more or less hogwash.
I’ve already left a post on this but I’d like to talk about another huge aspect of the book that went overlooked before. As I wrote in my first paper, there is a very feminist point of view within this literary work. Many people get caught up on the theme of hypocrisy which I stated above, but I think Moliere intended the focus to be not on the obvious central theme of hypocrisy but the many other themes that help carry this text. Feminism in this play is shown through some of the leading females such as Dorine and Elmire. Dorine, regardless of her low social status and her gender, always speaks her mind openly. Through her snarky comments and actions she becomes a very likeable character. Through Moliere making Dorine such a strong willed character it therefore conveys the theme of feminism. She fights for what she wants, and always makes herself heard during a time where women were submissive and quiet.
I love Dorine the most, she is the kind of person who when she feel things going in the wrong direction bravely speaks out her own options. She is sober-minded, wise servant who sees through all pretenses while being inferior.Dorine expose the true face of Tartuffe,Orgon desired to assure his gateway to heaven by having Mariane marry Tartyffe. Dorine immediately concocts plans to work against Orgon’s intentions for Mariane. I feel like Molier created Dorine because he wants people know she is brave, strong and honest woman instead of like Tartuffe despicable,nasty,pretend religion revote, she strong shows Tartuffe’s lies and his hypocrisy.
In the following, i have proposed a few questions that had came up as i was reading “Tartuffe”. Some of these may come in as deep, as the text itself is very interesting.
1. It is obvious that Orgon has an opposing perspective of Tartuffe, compared to the other characters. He praises Tartuffe while Damis, Mariana and Cleante talks of Tartuffe’s negative spread. Orgon would talk of Tartuffe’s so called good soul and his positive ends. In this society, we all know people that are similar to Orgon; they tend to perceive things from one strong perspective while thousands of other people sees it differently. For example, President Trump, is clearly a racist; he sees Muslims as bad people. It becomes problem when that person does something that affects everyone else. For instance, Orgon wants Mariane to marry Tartuffe and Trump cancelled DACA. Organ affected the love between Mariane and Velere and Trump affected many dreamers. Even worst, the person has a higher position than everyone else. The question that came to mind is how does one deal with this? Do we protest? What is a sound strategy to oppose those in a higher position?
2. A comment that i must make is that Orgon is blinded by his friendly love for Tartuffe. Despite his own blood, Damis, telling him that Tartuffe loves Elmire, he doesn’t not believe Damis. I recall a book that i was reading: “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.” It reminds me that we’re not always right. Sometimes, despite the things that we believe is right….it actually isn’t. The actions of Orgon is a true demonstration of the point made my the author. In Act III, it reminds me that if life is not lived “correctly”, we’re our own greatest downfall (just like how Orgon is his greatest downfall). In other ways, this is the thesis. As DJ Khaled says it, “Congradulations. you played yourself.”
3. In reference to the comment above, the question is how does one live a life where one is not oneself’s worst enemy? I personally believe that there is no answer to it. sometimes, its just trial and error and being open to what people say about you. Other people’s criticism of you may be your greatest opportunity for self improvement.
Regarding point 1., to point my opinion in a statement “Under the bases of logical thought is power, but under the bases of illogical thought, logic is powerless.” Disregarding the many other circumstances that may influence a person’s thought (ex: extreme circumstance when the worst happens to a person, and anchors that person into a niche), the main problem when dealing with people is ego and common sense. Ego can make someone twist their arm even if they truly find themselves in the wrong. Ego can delude people into finding facts in opinions, and (circumstantial) faults in the opposition’s views. Ego can do many other things as well. Common sense is something many people think they have, because (usually) the community they live in has their own standard of ‘common sense’. Ergo, my common sense may be more justifiable than B’s common sense, while C’s common sense may be even deeper/more rational than my common sense.
To grasp a person, and be able to sway them into your field of ‘justice’/understanding is in itself a complex task with many different methods. To be able to sway a people needs even greater understanding. And eventually, there’ll be a number of people before you which conglomerates into an entity within itself, and to you will lose that sense of personal humanity. A nation doesn’t have a face.
Long story short, I don’t how to deal with this problem. The ignorant are the hardest to persuade, and most of the times the only way to prove them wrong is when they do wrong/mess up. Though by then it’s too late.
Have you ever heard of the phrase “two faced”? Well if not Moliere provides us with a great example and his name is Tartuffe.
Tartuffe is a “holy” man who was once very poor until he met a man named Orgon. Orgon wishes to bring Tartuffe into his family and help him become a nobleman. What we see later on is that Orgon has misjudged Tartuffe.
Orgon’s family tries to tell Orgon and his mother, Madame Pernelle, that Tartuffe is no good. He claims to be a man of faith but he is not. Orgon’s son-in-law named Cleante brings up a great point in the story. He says that one can claim themselves to be a man of faith yet, their actions speak otherwise.
Cleante says that many men who deem to be truly holy men are fakes and that they use it as their trade for money. There are people who truly believe that in todays world, there are pastors with net worths off approximately 40mil and one who has even 150mil. This is not shown only in Tartuffe but also in The Life Of A Sensuous Woman.
So the question I ask you all is not a question of your faith, but can you really judge a book by its cover?
-Carlos Gratereaux
It is true that there are many holy men who use their statuses and reputation in order to profit and manipulate those who have faith.
In the play, I also feel that Tartuffe is one of those people. Although I’m not completely sure what is in the bible, the actions committed by Tartuffe does not seem holy; it is said that he indulges himself with wine and “he ate so much, he popped a button.” I believe that a holy man would not satisfy oneself with such luxury and materialistic goods. In addition to this, Tartuffe admits hes in love with Orgon’s wife, Elmire. Are these actions supposedly allowed for one who is deemed as “holy”?
Based on these evidence, I guess we could say yes, we can judge a book by its cover; it is clear that the actions of Tartuffe reveal he is a fraud.
Responding to Carlos, I believe that one can not really judge a book by its cover, or a person for who they appear to be. I feel that actions speak louder than words, and that is distinctly proven in Tartuffe. Although Tartuffe appeared to be a divine and noble man, and was speaking all about how he believes in God and morals, it was all say – there was no concrete actions to prove that. Furthermore, I believe that it takes time to get to know someone and their true self, but characters such as Orgon and Madame Pernelle instantly fell for Tartuffe, despite the opinions of the rest of the household. Tartuffe’s actions at the end of the play (lust for Elmire, kicking out Orgon and his family) further signify that people should not rely on hearsay, but rather experiences and actions of the people around them.
Reading Tartuffe reassures the well-known saying of never judging a book by it’s cover. Tartuffe pretended to be a religious person to seem as a great holy man. However, it was clearly not the case as he was trying to manipulate Orgon to take his estate, and take Orgon’s wife for himself. I personally never judge anybody before meeting somebody although many people today do. This is usually because of stereotypes and clichés from today’s society. For example, in school if there is a quiet person in the classroom, people may just assume that the person is shy. However, it may just be that they do not see a reason to start a conversation. The quiet person in the classroom may actually be the most down-to-earth person in the class. I used to “judge a person by their cover”, and assumed the type of person they are before meeting them, but I have known better than that for a long time, and have not done so for a long time.
It is true that there are many holy men who use their statuses and reputation in order to profit and manipulate those who have faith.
In the play, I also feel that Tartuffe is one of those people. Although I’m not completely sure what is in the bible, the actions committed by Tartuffe does not seem holy; it is said that he indulges himself with wine and “he ate so much, he popped a button.” I believe that a holy man would not satisfy oneself with such luxury and materialistic goods. In addition to this, Tartuffe admits hes in love with Orgon’s wife, Elmire. Are these actions supposedly allowed for one who is deemed as “holy”?
Based on these evidence, I guess we could say yes, we can judge a book by its cover; it is clear that the actions of Tartuffe reveal he is a fraud.
The theme I would like to focus on in this play is hypocrisy. Tartuffe is known in town as a pious man, when throughout the play we constantly see him doing things that would be frowned upon by the church. Many individuals throughout the play see past Tartuffe’s act such as Damis, Mariane, Dorine, and Elmire and try to expose him for who he truly is. We learn that Tartuffe is a greedy, lustful and a hypocrite. He was able to manipulate Madame Pernelle and Orgon, and through this he was able to convince Organ into signing the deed of his home over to him. This greed that possesses Tartuffe is spoken about in the bible, “Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions'” (Luke 12:15). Tartuffe acts as though he is a devoutly religious man, when he is going against the will of God. This kind of hypocrisy is also written about in the bible, “He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me'” (Mark 7:6). No amount of praying can get one into heaven if their hearts are not pure. Tartuffe is an adulterous and worldly man, and does exactly what he preaches against.
I agree that the main upfront idea of this play “hypocrisy” coming from Tartuffe. He does use Orgon to get what he wants and even what he doesn’t want, like a future wife. However, no one ever questions why Orgon is such admiration of Tartuffe. I think this is a sub-theme (if that exists) meaning that it is the deeper meaning that people are not looking for. What Moliere is trying to tell us is that, people are like sheep and are willing to give up (like orgon) their riches, and family and essentially their lives to the church even though we don’t know them very well (no one except Dorine). However, after reading this I believe that people realized that Orgon never questioned and trusted blindly which almost lead him to destruction. This idea of questioning peoples intentions was what started the Enlightenment a few years after this work of literature was published, and I believe this play helped with the spark.
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Damis brings to light information about Tartuffe to Orgon, but Organ doesn’t believe it at all even though Tartuffe admitted to them. Instead of believing in his own son, he insults him for calling Tartuffe this terrible guy. Tartuffe constantly uses reverse psychology to get what he wants from Orgon. For someone who claims to be this “good Christian” he doesn’t want to forgive Damis.
Mariane doesn’t want to marry Tartuffe. She begs her father, Orgon to prevent this marriage from happening, but he is set on what he wants. She goes to the extreme and offers her inheritance to simply not marry him. Elmire defends Mariane and tells off Orgon for being gulible. She convinces Orgon that Tartuffe is this untrustworthy person that everyone has been telling him about.
By now, all the characters in the play are aware of Tartuffe’s intentions and how he is going after Orgon’s estate. Tartuffe ends up having black mail on one of Orgon’s friend and uses that information to get Orgon kicked out and arrested, but when Tartuffe comes with the police they end up arresting him instead.
The scene that stood out to me the most was when Orgon was explaining to his mother, Madame Pernelle, that Tartuffe is this fraud and he just wants his estate, but she doesn’t believe him. Funny how the tables have turned. It took so much convincing for Orgon to believe it and now his own mother doesn’t believe him till Monsieur Loyal comes over to give Orgon a conviction notice.
Although to us readers, with dramatic irony, we know that Tartuffe is a rat faced bastard, objectively speaking, I found one of Orgon’s argument had some truth in it – though it is twisted in ignorance. “Ah! So you will be a holy, cloistered nun, / Because your father thwarts your love affair.” (s. 4.3. Lines 29-30). In a broad sense, this plays to the idea of turning to God when all else fails, and only because all else fails/whenever one prays because they’re desperate. Though the rest of his arguments are more or less hogwash.
I’ve already left a post on this but I’d like to talk about another huge aspect of the book that went overlooked before. As I wrote in my first paper, there is a very feminist point of view within this literary work. Many people get caught up on the theme of hypocrisy which I stated above, but I think Moliere intended the focus to be not on the obvious central theme of hypocrisy but the many other themes that help carry this text. Feminism in this play is shown through some of the leading females such as Dorine and Elmire. Dorine, regardless of her low social status and her gender, always speaks her mind openly. Through her snarky comments and actions she becomes a very likeable character. Through Moliere making Dorine such a strong willed character it therefore conveys the theme of feminism. She fights for what she wants, and always makes herself heard during a time where women were submissive and quiet.
I love Dorine the most, she is the kind of person who when she feel things going in the wrong direction bravely speaks out her own options. She is sober-minded, wise servant who sees through all pretenses while being inferior.Dorine expose the true face of Tartuffe,Orgon desired to assure his gateway to heaven by having Mariane marry Tartyffe. Dorine immediately concocts plans to work against Orgon’s intentions for Mariane. I feel like Molier created Dorine because he wants people know she is brave, strong and honest woman instead of like Tartuffe despicable,nasty,pretend religion revote, she strong shows Tartuffe’s lies and his hypocrisy.